1 . Name: Maelgwyn @ 2012-01-17 05:10

Chess
Inspiration at work. Should see notepad here… it goes from reasonable to scrawl... Is a snapshot, really what I do these days it seems

(Is on Tumblr... but here as well now.)

Chess
Maelgwyn
Heavy / Engineer

~~

Heavy toyed with the queen, his fingers running over the smooth ebony surface. The game was not finished, each piece frozen in place, a reminder. Back when he was happy. The Medic had boasted that he could beat him in twenty moves as they sat, laughing at one of Heavy’s stories. But, they could only reach move nineteen. The pieces were scattered around the board, threatening their opponents. Like the teams, he mused.

Two burly police burst in, the Medic smiling as he moved in for the kill, brushing the bone and ebony pieces with his rubber gloves. They called his name, his real name. The Medic looked concerned as he stood, turning to them. They called him again as he approached. When he responded positively, they slammed him into the wall, putting the steel cuffs around his wrists. They said he had illegally experimented on humans. Heavy wanted to stand. But the Medic told him to stay where he was, that it wouldn’t help. Instead, he watched as they manhandled the Medic out of the room.

He could have taken them. They were babies. He could have snapped them in half as easily as moving the chess pieces, he mused darkly, sneering at his incompetence. He could not protect his team. His Medic. He was not a credit to the team. So he sat, wallowing in the regret and disgust.

“I’ll be back, Herr Heavy, we will finish this game!” the Medic had called. So the pieces sat. And they would sit still for even longer. The Medic was found guilty, or so the American justice system had deemed him guilty, and sent him to some gulag. Even knowing that he would probably never return, Heavy could not move a single piece, even to admit overwhelming defeat. The clack of a set of boots and the scrape of a chair was the only thing he noticed as he stared despondently at the board.

“Hey partner, mind if I pull up a pew?” the Engineer asked, noting his consternation as if he was inspecting a errant dispenser. The Heavy waved his free hand. The Engineer sat, his body emitting a few pops and a couple of choked groans, his yellow hardhat tucked onto his lap. He grinned as his hand waved over the board, “Chess eh? Didn’t think you were one for this game’

“Why?” the Heavy quipped, his distain of breaking his reverie evident, “Is good game for strong men, da?”

“Oh, I’m not disagreein’ with ya partner,” the Engineer chuckled, hopefully disarming the moody Heavy. He waved his gloved hand over the board. The Heavy growled, guttural and animalistic at the thought of someone of anyone but the Medic touching the pieces, diluting his memory. The Engineer quickly retreated the hand, holding them both in surrender.

“Whoa, easy there buddy,” his voice soft, trying to placate him, “you know he’s not coming back.”

“Maybe,” the response was curt as the Heavy picked up a captured pawn, enjoying how he pictured the Medic curl his fingers over it, tilting it as he slid the base along the board, letting it drop again without a sound. He remembered the quiet laughs, the unintentional touches that ended with a swift kick, or even a brush of his boot, depending on his mood, and the game’s progress. Sometimes, Heavy would let him win, just for the attention he got.

“You know, it has to end sometime,” the Engineer reached out, grasping the pawn that he clutched with fervent desperation, “but that doesn’t mean that you can’t start another.”

“Nyet!” the Heavy yelled, his want to end the pain was almost too much for the Engineer to bear. So the Engineer had to solve the problem in the only way he knew. The king, stoic yielded to the Engineer’s glove, collapsing onto the board. It rolled on its side several times before it fell still, nestled next to the queen. The echo of its fall reverberated through the room.

“Let it go, partner,” the Engineer said, trying to defuse the Heavy as he stood, the rough scratching of the chair against the concrete ominous. “It doesn’t mean you forget,” he added as the Heavy crossed the small gap between the chairs, glowering at the Engineer, his anger painted on his face so plainly. The Engineer stood quickly, knocking his chair over, hands out in front of his body, palms up.

“I told you, do not touch,” the Heavy gambled, his gravelly voice cold, “little baby did not listen.”

The Engineer looked nervous as the Heavy grabbed his shirt, dragging him away from the table, his boots scraping along the floor. He closed his eyes as he saw the massive brute raise his hand, fist tight. Instead of the punch he expected, he was lifted off his feet as Heavy wrapped his arms around him, shuddering as the tears fell onto his shoulder. The Engineer wrapped his arms around the brute as best he could, patting him on the back.

“Shh, let er all out,” he whispered as they stood, the game finally over.